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Tekken 7's VR isn't what you expect

Gallery: Tekken 7's VR isn't what you expect

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At Paris Games Week back in October, Bandai Namco announced that fighting game Tekken 7would have PlayStation VR features when it arrived on PS4. Immediately, fans envisaged pummelling each other in first person, with message boards torn over whether that would be a brilliant or terrible idea.

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Whatever your stance, you're wrong though. It turns out, those early assumptions of what Tekken in VR would entail are way off base, with senior game designer Michael Murray telling WIRED that plans are likely to be more about appreciating -- rather than beating up -- the game's roster.

Speaking to WIRED at Bandai Namco's headquarters in Tokyo, Murray first dispelled fears over the idea of first person VR Tekken. "When we announced that we're going to do something with virtual reality, people were like 'oh, so you're going to be playing in first person and hitting each other? That sounds like crap!'" he says. "There was a hidden command in Tekken 2 [where you could play in first person] that was cool in itself but you wouldn't want to do that for your whole Tekken fix, right? So probably not that. People like Tekken the way that it is as far as the core gameplay." "I think people think we're going to incorporate VR into the main game itself, when we don't currently see a way that that would enhance Tekken to a new level better than what it would be right now."

As for what players can expect, Murray offered that "The only hints we could probably give is that Tekken is ultimately all about the characters. You want to see the cool characters, the cute female characters like Lucky Chloe, and we have all kinds of customisation for them and they have all these cool techniques that are motion captured.... something that would allow people to enjoy the game in that aspect maybe is about all we can say."

The lack of virtual reality headsets in consumers' hands may also skew expectations of what would work for the game. "I don't think people have had their hands on VR much, aside from trade shows and such," Murray says. "So what is an optimal experience? Is it an environment [itself] or is it because you're in it, and how does that relate to you and your opponent? Because it is a fighting game, that's the major mechanic." "I think people just assume 'Oh Tekken is a head to head game, and it's going to be in VR so you'll just punch each other like Punch Out or something'," Murray continues. "I think that's where the misconception comes in. We're not going to do that. It doesn't lend itself to a fighting game well, so we want to find something that isn't that but still pleases fans. [Tekken senior producer] Katsuhiro Harada always illustrates it as, if someone's right in your face, punching, it's very jarring and disorienting, not that fun experience you want."

What players can expect from the home release of Tekken 7 though is a lot more content than is in even the recent Fated Retribution update to the arcade version of the game. Asked whether the recently revealed crossover character of Akuma, from Capcom's Street Fighter series, would be making his way to console, Murray offers "Oh, definitely. Everything that we're working on in the arcade update will make its way to console -- and, most likely, more stuff as well, that we can talk about later."

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Tekken is also well known for bolstering its one-on-one fighting core with extra modes, with mini-games such as Tekken Bowling or the story-driven Devil Within from Tekken 5. These too are possibly making a return in Tekken 7. "What we're going to do [for Tekken 7], we haven't really talked about yet. We're still trying to finalise what we're going to do with the game as a whole when we go to console," Murray says. "The only thing we have been saying is that we realise that story is a really important thing for Tekken fans, and that's why we're returning to the canon story this time. So something that can really showcase that gameplay-wise is something we're really looking into -- that's the only hint I can give!"